Cheney and McCain on boondoggle to Middle East?
Cheney spending nine days in the Middle East, with a “rich” agenda?
Vice President Dick Cheney left on Sunday for the Middle East to raise concerns about high oil prices, push Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and seek support for Iraq, where war began five years ago this week.
Cheney, who has strong ties with leaders in the Middle East, will visit Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, the Palestinian territories, and Turkey during a nine-day trip to the region.
“Clearly, our ongoing efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan will be discussed,” John Hannah, national security adviser to Cheney, told reporters. “Middle East peace, Iran, the situation in Syria, Lebanon, the violence in Gaza, energy — it’s a very long list and rich agenda.”
Cheney will reinforce the message from visits by President George W. Bush in January and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this month, in a stepped-up diplomatic push for Israelis and Palestinians to move forward on peace efforts dealt a blow by violence in Gaza and Israel.
“The mood has deteriorated incredibly in the last six weeks since the president was there,” Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.
Don’t you just love the way we now have five branches of government: the President, the Congress, the Courts, the Fourth Estate, and now the neocon think tanks, who now writes the country’s foreign policy, verbatim.
Ironic at minimum that Cheney takes an extended tour of the Middle East on the fifth anniversary of invading Iraq, which he bears more responsibility for than anyone else in the Bush administration. Even C-Plus Augustus.
Cheney doesn’t go on diplomacy missions. He goes on strong-arm missions, or self-serving missions. Need to reflect on this a bit, but I can think of only two reasons why Darth Vader has scuttled off for nine days to the chaotic region he has coveted for so many years: (1) working on his plan to ensure riches still flow to his pockets after he leaves in 2009; or (2) activities that will somehow be interwoven into the GOP’s 2008 campaign strategy — especially considering John McCain’s surprise appearance in Iraq today.
Update I: Let’s add strategic planning for an attack on Iran to that list. I don’t know why I failed to list it. Brain dead.
It’s the most obvious and speculated scenario, especially considering Admiral Fallon’s demise and the circumstances surrounding it.
Update II: More on Cheney’s trip here.
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